this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2026
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Privacy

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The recent federal raid on the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson isn’t merely an attack by the Trump administration on the free press. It’s also a warning to anyone with a smartphone.

Included in the search and seizure warrant for the raid on Natanson’s home is a section titled “Biometric Unlock,” which explicitly authorized law enforcement personnel to obtain Natanson’s phone and both hold the device in front of her face and to forcibly use her fingers to unlock it. In other words, a judge gave the FBI permission to attempt to bypass biometrics: the convenient shortcuts that let you unlock your phone by scanning your fingerprint or face.-

It is not clear if Natanson used biometric authentication on her devices, or if the law enforcement personnel attempted to use her face or fingers to unlock her devices. Natanson and the Washington Post did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The FBI declined to comment.

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[–] JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

They can prosecute you for that in many places as destruction of evidence.

(Which is weird because if they fail to convict you for whatever BS they are going for then it is the Goose meme of "evidence for what???")

[–] sudoer777@lemmy.ml 0 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Wouldn't power-off or lockdown mode also be "destruction of evidence"?

[–] JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl 1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

No because she evidence is stille their, they just don't have access to it (legally if they use certain tools, apparently all phones outsider of the newest pixel and most grapheneOS are exploitable and unlockable).

So that is the reason, that they would kever have access tot it when erased, as opposed to possibly getting a court order for the data in the future or nowadays just paying for an unlock tool illegally (depending on location)